Tuesday, September 28, 2010

St. Joseph, Missouri. Patee House.

Patee House was opened in 1858 by John Patee,
built as a luxurious four-story hotel
and an innovation for its time.
Mrs. James stayed here when Jesse was killed
and it served as the center of the investigation of Jesse's death.

It is St. Joseph's only National Historical Landmark
for having served as headquarters for the Pony Express in 1860.
Pony Express operators had their main office here and
the Pony Express riders stayed here.
The Union Army took over the hotel during the Civil War,
and Patee, who was backing the Confederacy,
decided to sell the building in a nation-wide lottery.
On April 28, 1865, when 100 tickets came back unsold,
Patee bought them himself
and won back his own hotel.

Here's the original registration desk at the hotel.
Rooms were an extravagant $2.50 a night.

Lobby of the hotel:

I liked the longhorn settee.

Here's the headquarters of the Pony Express.

Visitors can stroll down the "Streets of Old St. Jo."
The Dentist's Shop: